GSAOI

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Overview

The Gemini South Adaptive Optics Imager (GSAOI) is a near-infrared adaptive optics camera used with the Gemini Multi-conjugate Adaptive Optics System (GeMS) on Gemini South. GSAOI was built by the Research School of Astronomy and Astrophysics (RSAA) of The Australian National University.

GSAOI provides diffraction limited images in the 0.9 - 2.4 μm wavelength range. The GSAOI imager detector is formed by 2 x 2 mosaic Rockwell HAWAII-2RG 2048 x 2048 arrays. Located at the f/32 GeMS output focus, GSAOI records images in a 85" x 85" field-of-view with a imaging scale of 0.02"/pixel and a gap between the arrays of ~ 2mm. In the adaptive optic sense, GSAOI is a wide-field imaging system with a 4080 x 4080 pixel detector format.

The Instrument Scientist for GSAOI is Rodrigo Carrasco. Gemini science staff who also support GSAOI is Rodolfo Angeloni.

Also see the Near-IR Resources section, which contains generic information about observing at 1-5um as well as details about calibrations, standard stars, etc. that apply to GSAOI, NIRI, GNIRS, NIFS, Phoenix and FLAMINGOS2.

The Gemini Observatory is an international collaboration with two identical 8-meter telescopes. The Frederick C. Gillett Gemini Telescope is located on Mauna Kea, Hawai'i (Gemini North) and the other telescope on Cerro Pachón in central Chile (Gemini South); together the twin telescopes provide full coverage over both hemispheres of the sky. The telescopes incorporate technologies that allow large, relatively thin mirrors, under active control, to collect and focus both visible and infrared radiation from space.

The Gemini Observatory provides the astronomical communities in five participant countries with state-of-the-art astronomical facilities that allocate observing time in proportion to each country's contribution. In addition to financial support, each country also contributes significant scientific and technical resources. The national research agencies that form the Gemini partnership include: the US National Science Foundation (NSF), the Canadian National Research Council (NRC), the Argentinean Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación Productiva, the Brazilian Ministério da Ciência, Tecnologia e Inovação and the Chilean Comisión Nacional de Investigación Cientifica y Tecnológica (CONICYT). The observatory is managed by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under a cooperative agreement with the NSF. The NSF also serves as the executive agency for the international partnership.